Around the World in 330 Days: Brian's Fulbright Journey in China and Elsewhere: Days 106-108: Huang Shan (Anhui Province)

So during the last three days, we went on a Fulbright Cultural Event to Huang Shan, in the Anhui Province of China. Lots of travelling. Tuesday we took a 4.5 hour train ride there. Tracy was on the same train as us, even in the same coach. We almost didn't make it: the taxi got stuck in traffic, plus we had a hard time finding where we were supposed to go for our tickets. Kerry finally located an Inquiry desk with a lady who told us to "zou guai" (turn left) to find a ticket counter. We got the tickets and went to the line; they were boarding when we got there. The ride itself was pretty uneventful and I actually slept part of the way; the rest of the time I read Maus II and talked to Kerry. William, the tour guide, was holding a sign with our names as we walked out of the station. A driver took us to a hotel about 20 minutes away. It was a French Provincial hotel out of the city, with an emphasis on the provincial. It was quaint--wood furnishings, goldfish ponds--but our room was FREEZING. We quickly turned the heat on and then rested a bit. We tried to convey to the people at the desk that we were hungry (Chi Fan); I think they understood that we were hungry, but couldn't tell us where to go. We then ran into Tracy, who walked with us a bit down an old street. We ran into a place that looked like nothing from the outside, but this old man and woman invited us in to look over their ingredients and pick out something to eat. Very different from most restaurant service I'm used to. The had such items as scallions, lotus root, and pork. They made us one dish with lotus root and pork, one with scrambled egg and onion, and one with tofu. It was SOOO good! About as fresh as you can get. We ate outside with neighborhood dogs begging at our feet; we gave them scraps after the meal. We strolled around before and after the meal and saw a lot of animals: cats (two of whom were fighting with each other, playfully), dogs (all over), and plenty of ducks (some of whom were the non-living versions, strung up in front of shops). Then Kerry and I took a nap and waited for dinner. At 6 pm we got to see Mark and the others, including Samuel again (the young Duke graduate) and Sean Cortney (who we had dinner with in D.C.--blond guy who Kerry thinks looks like Jude Law). We also met an interesting Chinese female sociology and gender studies professor, who talks about transgender issues, as well as a young Chinese woman who had just defended her Ph.D. dissertation on American Literature--Cormac McCarthy, to be specific. During dinner, a woman sang Chinese opera to us with her karaoke machine a couple times during dinner. The food was good but a bit spicy, which is sort of a theme with Hui cuisine. Afterwards, Mark, Kerry, and I had an interesting "conversation" with one of the desk managers at the hotel; he'd say something in Chinese, and then his phone would translate it in English so we could understand it. How cool! We tried to talk back to him using our Google Translate and Pleco. It's amazing what technology makes possible.

Wednesday was really the big "cultural event" day. The purpose was to explore the "four treasures" of Huang Shan. We began by going to a brushmaker's--a young man whose family had been doing this for generations (his father, the owner, was also around). The young man showed us how to make a brush, and then we made one of our own. That was pretty fun; I like being creative and creating something by myself. And we had a brush to take home as a result. We did a bit of shopping: I got a few more gifts for people, and Mark bought some pots and some swords at once place. We then had a really good lunch. I'm really starting to leave the greens in China--perhaps the vegetable oil is a good way to cook them. I also liked the little shrimp that I didn't have to peel, and the fish that didn't have a lot of bones in it. It was called "stinky fish," but it wasn't really stinky at all. After lunch, we went to an ink factory and saw real craftsmen make ink, do carvings, and dry the ink. It was nice to see real humans involved in a creative process. We also saw a room with a lot of stone carvings: one of the stones sold for $100,000 (and yes, that's USD). Beautiful, painstakingly done. Afterwards, we went to a paper factory and saw the process by which paper is made by hand. Such items as tree bark and kiwi juice are used. Mark ended up purchasing a scroll that he admired: original price 800 RMB, but he got it for 500 RMB. Then we walked back to the hotel, exploring the old street again. But by this time it was raining. Soon after, we piled back in the bus and went to dinner in a hotel. This dinner, though, was my least favorite: they served such dishes as pig intestine, sheep's hearts, and cow tripe. Even the pork was way too fatty. The dates and peanuts were good, though, and I liked the rice wine. At the end of the day, we gave Mark his Xmas presents and then turned in. I finished Maus II before going to bed.

Thursday we went home. We got up about 6:20 am and then took a van back to the train station. The folks at the hotel gave us a breakfast to take with us: brown eggs, bread, corn, and oranges. Pretty filling. I rested on the train, but I didn't really sleep. I read Chopin and Perkins Gilman for my American Lit. class. At one point we had to switch our seats around to the opposite direction--that was bizarre. But we went with the flow. Taxi ride back was about 93 RMB. Kerry did laundry, we had lunch, and then took a nap. I did some grading of American Lit. papers. We just had potatoes and some cheese for dinner.

Here are some pictures of Huang Shan: